Who is responsible?
Laws and responsibilities of public authorities

Latest Update: September 2023

The extraction of raw materials is regulated in Germany by regulations such as the German Federal Mining Act (BBergG). In 1982, it replaced the old mining laws of the Federal States and the numerous ancillary mining laws of the Federal and Federal State governments. The BBergG is supplemented by various ordinances on mining law issues. The overall control of the mining law within the Federal Government is the responsibility of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate action. The mining authorities of the Federal States (see chart below) implement the BBergG and also bear the responsibility for the authorisation and supervision of mining activities (depending on the natural resources in question). The Federal States have passed some mining regulations of their own in order to meet the specific requirements and characteristics for areas not covered by the BBergG. The coalition agreement provides for the modernisation of mining law. However, a draft bill for the modernisation of mining law is not yet available.

Germany differentiates between three groups of natural resources in terms of their legal regulation:

  • Free-to-mine natural resources are not the property of the landowner. The exploration and extraction of these natural resources are subject to the BbergG and must be approved by the mining authorities of the respective Federal State in a two-stage procedure: firstly, by granting a mining license(public-law concession) and secondly, by granting the site-specific approval of the operating plan procedure.
  • Privately-owned natural resources are the property of the landowner and are subject to mining law (see § 2(1), no. 1 BBergG). The prospecting and extraction of these mineral resources does not require any mining authorisation, but is subject to approval (operating plan procedure) by the mining authorities of the Federal States.
  • Landowners’ natural resources are natural resources that are neither free-to-mine nor privately owned. They are the property of the landowner. They are not subject to mining law and the supervision of the mining authorities. The approval procedure for landowners’ natural resources is carried out in accordance with the regulations of the Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) or in accordance with regulations of the respective Federal State (e.g. excavation, water and construction laws).

Depending on the Federal State, the natural resource and the type of extraction involved, middle and lower-management levels of governmental bodies are responsible for the landowners’ natural resources category.

Overview of the mining authorities of the Federal States

Baden-Wuerttemberg

  • Ministry of the Environment,
  • Climate Protection and the Energy Sector

Bavaria

  • Ministry for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy

Berlin

  • Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises

Baden-Wuerttemberg

  • Ministry for the Environment,
  • Climate and Energy.

Bavaria

  • State Ministry for Economic
    Affairs
  • and Media, Energy and
    Technology

Berlin

  • Senate Administration for Economic
    Affairs,
  • Technology and Research

Brandenburg

  • Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labour and Energy

Bremen

  • The Senator for Economic Affairs,
  • Labour and Europe

Hamburg

  • Authority for Economic Affairs and Innovation

Brandenburg

  • Ministry for Economic
  • Affairs and Energy

Bremen

  • Senator for Economic Affairs,
  • Labour and Ports

Hamburg

  • Department of Economic Affairs,
  • Transport and Innovation

Hesse

  • Ministry for Environment, Climate Protection, Agriculture and Consumer Protection

Mecklenburg-Western-Pomerania

  • Ministry for Economy, Infrastructure
  • and Tourism and Labour

Hesse

  • Ministry for the Environment,Climate Protection,
  • Agriculture and Consumer Protection

Mecklenburg-Western-Pomerania

  • Ministry for Energy, Infrastructure
  • and Regional Development

Lower Saxony

  • Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labour, Transport and Digitalisation

North-Rhine Westphalia

  • Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy

Lower Saxony

  • Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labour and Transport

North-Rhine Westphalia

  • Ministry for Economic Affairs,
  • Innovation, and Energy

Rhineland-Palatinate

  • Ministry for Economic Affairs, Transport, Agriculture and Viticulture

Saarland

  • Ministry for Economic Affairs,
  • Innovation, Digital Affairs and Energy

Saxony

  • Ministry for Economic Affairs,
  • Labour and Transport

Rhineland-Palatinate

  • Ministry for Economic Affairs, Climate Protection,
  • Energy and Regional Planning

Saarland

  • Ministry for Economic Affairs,
  • Labour, Energy and Transport

Saxony

  • Ministry for Economic Affairs,
  • Labour and Transport

Saxony-Anhalt

  • Ministry for Economic Affairs, Tourism, Agriculture and Forests of Saxony-Anhalt

Schleswig-Holstein

  • Ministry of Energy, Agriculture, the Environment, Nature and Digitalization

Thuringia

  • Ministry of Environment, Energy, and Nature Conservation

Saxony-Anhalt

  • Ministry for Sciences
  • and Economic Affairs

Schleswig-Holstein

  • Ministry for Energy Transition,
    Agriculture
  • the Environment and Rural Areas

Thuringia

  • Ministry for Agriculture, Forests,
    the Environment and Nature
  • Conservation

Legal regulation

Legal division of natural resources in Germany

natural resources

Legal
breakdown

Free-to-mine natural resources (subject to mining law)

Privately-owned natural resources (subject to mining law)

Landowners’ natural resources (not under mining law)

Subject-specific division

Energy resources: coals, hydrocarbons (including oil and natural gas), geothermal energy

Industrial minerals: fluorite, graphite, lithium, phosphorus, all salts that are readily soluble in water, sulphur, barite, strontium, zirconium

Metal ores: e.g. iron, copper, lead, zinc ores, etc.

Also: all natural resources in the area of the continental shelf and coastal waters (including gravel and natural stones)1

Industrial minerals: bentonite and other montmorillonite clays, feldspar, mica, kaolin, diatomaceous earth (diatomite), ‘pegmatite sand’, quartz (quartz sand and gravel) & quartzite (if suitable for refractory products and ferrosilicon production), soapstone, talk and clay

(if fireproof and acid-proof).

Quarried natural resources: basaltic lava (except columnar basalt), roofing slate, trass.

Also: all privately-owned natural resources, which have been extracted underground (incl. gypsum, natural stone, brick clays etc.).

Quarried natural resources (in opencast mining): anhydrite, gypsum, limestone, basalt columns and other natural stones, gravel and sand, quartz and quartzite (if unsuitable for the manu- facture of refractory products and ferrosilicon) and other natural resources not listed in this table

Also: peat

Right of disposal over natural resources

These natural resources are “free”, i.e. they do not belong to the landowner. Their exploitation requires mining rights and the permission of the mining authorities.

These mineral resources belong to the landowner. The landowner is entitled to use them.

Type of
legal regulation

Regulated pursuant to the BBergG

§ 3 (3)

§ 3 (4)

Governed by other legal jurisdictions, e.g., construction law (Excavation Law), Water Resources Act or State Water Act, Federal Immission Control Act, Federal or State Nature Conservation Act.

Own presentation. Based on the following source: State geological service of the Federal Republic of Germany

URL: Infogeo – Staatliche Geologische Dienste Deutschlands – Rohstoffsicherung in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland – Zustandsbericht – (Accessed: 5 December 2022)

1In the territory of the former GDR, special requirements may exist for free-to-mine natural resources under the Unification Treaty.

LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND REGULATION

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Glossar

In Federal States in which legislation does not include an excavation law and the State-level Nature Conservation Law does not apply to the extraction of non-energetic, ground-based natural resources in the context of dry excavations, this type of natural resource extraction falls within the scope of the relevant state building regulations.

Legal limitations also exist: State building regulations apply to the excavation of solid rock (limestone, basalt, etc.), for example, in quarries with an area of up to 10 hectares (ha) in which no blasting is carried out. In the event that this area is exceeded, or if water bodies are formed after completion of the extraction operations, the German Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) and/or Water Resources Act (WHG) are applicable.
In Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia, the above-ground excavation of non-energetic, ground-based natural resources in the context of dry excavations is determined at state level by the existing excavation laws (AbgrG). For the excavation of solid rock (limestone, basalt, etc.) in quarries where blasting does not occur, the AbgrG applies to sites with an area of up to 10 ha. In the event that this area is exceeded, or if water bodies are formed after completion of the extraction operations, the German Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) and/or Water Resources Act (WHG) are applicable. In the other Federal States, this type of natural resources extraction is regulated by the respective state building regulations or by the state-level nature conservation laws.

In general, the AbgrG applies to those raw materials the excavation of which is not directly subject to mining law or the mining authorities. These raw materials include (in particular) gravel, sand, clay, loam, limestone, dolomite and other rocks, bog mud and clays. However, the jurisdiction between AbgrG and mining law can vary from case to case in the case of certain raw materials, such as quartz gravels. The requested authority must always verify its own jurisdiction in each case. The AbgrG also encompasses surface area usage and the subsequent rehabilitation of the area.
The German Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) is the most important and practice-relevant law in the field of environmental law. It constitutes the basis for the approval of industrial and commercial installations. In the natural resources extraction industry, quarrying companies must have approval to extract stones and earth. Every quarrying area of 10 hectares or more must undergo a full approval procedure, including public participation and UVP (environmental impact assessment). A more simplified approval procedure is used for quarrying areas of less than 10 hectares.

The sphere of responsibility for the legal immission control approval procedure is fully specified in the Immission Control Acts of the Federal States. The Federal States are tasked with the administrative enforcement of the approval procedure. Each individual state’s Environment Ministry – the highest local immission protection authority – usually bears the responsibility for this procedure. Subordinate authorities include regional councils, district authorities and lower-level administrative authorities. Administrative jurisdiction generally lies with the lower-level administrative authorities.
The GDP measures the value of goods and services produced domestically (creation of value) within a given period (quarter, year). The Federal Office of Statistics calculates the GDP as follows: production value minus intermediate consumption = the gross value added; plus taxes on products and minus subsidies = GDP
The gross value added is calculated by deducting intermediate consumption from the production values, so it only includes the value added created during the production process. The gross value added is valued at manufacturing prices, i.e. without the taxes due (product taxes), but including the product subsidies received.

During the transition from gross value added (at manufacturing prices) to GDP, the net taxes (product taxes less product subsidies) are added globally to arrive at an assessment of the GDP at market prices’. Source: Destatis
The planning approval procedure under mining law is used for the approval procedure of a general operating plan for projects which require an environmental impact assessment (§§ 52(2a), in conjunction with 57 a of the BBergG).
There are different definitions and methodological approaches at the international as well as at the national level as to what subsidies are and how they are calculated. According to the definition of the German government’s subsidy report, this report considers federal subsidies for private companies and economic sectors (ie grants as cash payments and tax breaks as special tax exemptions) which are relevant to the budget. Subsidies at the federal level can be viewed via the subsidy reports of the federal states (see Appendix 5 of the German government subsidy report).
In compliance with § 68(1), Water Resources Act (WHG), the excavation of landowners’ natural resources such as gravel, sand, marl, clay, loam, peat and stone in wet extraction operations requires a planning approval procedure. The reason for this is that groundwater is exposed in wet extraction, resulting in above-ground water. The planning approval procedure is implemented by lower-level water authorities.

The procedural steps of the planning approval procedure are governed by the general provisions of §§ 72 to 78 of the Administrative Procedures Act (VerwVfG). Within the meaning of § 68(3), nos. 1 and 2 of the WHG, the plan may only be established or approved if an impairment of the common good is not to be expected and other requirements of the WHG as well as other public-law provisions are fulfilled.